Grasping Evil

Amidst the bright sky, worn out and damaged shuttles flew towards Gu Shan Guan.

Today was the seventh day since they went out to war making everyone busy in the city.

All the shuttles that set out to eliminate the demons in different cities all managed to return. The cultivators who were assigned to guard Ju Shan Guan were busy registering the battle points of the cultivators who participated in missions.

At the gate of the city, the cultivators who became embroiled in bloodbaths earlier exchanged their battle points for immortal jade, pills and treasures to increase their strength.

Above the gate tower, a woman in a plain-colored dress was looking at the edge of the sky with a concerned expression.

The stench of blood fills the air. But his shuttle hasn't returned yet.

"Suqiu Xianzi, don't worry. Ning… Fellow Daoist Zhou is strong. He would surely be safe…" Jing Zhuo tried to console her.

"En. I know that he's powerful. At the end of the day, he's just a…. I heard that seven groups accomplished their mission and only three groups didn't manage to destroy the demon cities. Furthermore, three Nascent Soul Realm cultivators lost their bodies and only their Nascent Souls managed to return. Would he be alright?" The woman wearing a plain dress bit her lips and let out a faint sigh.

Why is he being stubborn every time?

To ask me to guard this city while heading into the frontlines himself and face danger.

The concern in her eyes never ceased no matter what Jing Zhuo said.

Only when another broken shuttle flying in the sky came into her sight that she let out a sigh of relief.

A young man was standing at the head of the shuttle dressed in white clothes and donned a dark cloak. He was facing against the wind with both of his hands behind his back. Although his face looked pale, it was always adorned with a smile.

"He finally returned… He should've obtained lots of battle points for sure. It's similar to what happened back then in the Sinister Sparrow Sect…"

Yin Suqiu's eyes sparkled and got she quickly down from the gate tower, heading towards the city. She wanted to welcome Ning Fan and celebrate his victory.

…

In this war, victory belonged to humans.

They now have sufficient battle points to leave Great Jin. What follows after the destruction of the demon cities would be the final battle at Dragon Vision Pond. That battle would be led personally by Revered Snow. However, Ning Fan didn't intend to join the battle.

There were actually few reasons of why he won't do so.

Firstly, since he had already gained enough battle points, there was no need for him to continue risking his life for the upcoming war. The date of the final battle had been set at exactly a month from now. On the other hand, the activation day for the Ancient Teleportation Formation would be a few days after the commencement of the final battle. If he participate in the war, he might not be able to catch up on time if something unpredictable cropped up and delays him.

Secondly, the Divine Transformation Realm demon general was still in the Dragon Vision Pond. He captured two of the demon general's female partners and killed one of his male partner. The two female demons that were held captive didn't pose a big threat to Ning Fan but killing the male demon did. After the male demon died, he noticed that the blood qi of the male demon stained his body. The stain remained on his body for a few days already without a sign of disappearing. Perhaps it might turn out to be a reason for the demon general to seek him out for revenge.

If I join the war, it would be a suicidal action since the demon general would certainly not let me go. So there's completely no reason for me to participate.

The third reason was because of the storage pouch of the lion-maned demon. There was something in there which made Ning Fan to be extremely worried.

For the last reason, Ning Fan required some time to rest, treat his wounds and also to assimilate the demons' blood!

During the return trip to the city, he had tried to examine the storage pouch in his Cauldron Ring using his spirit sense several times. The results always astonished him!

In that storage pouch that belonged to the demon with a lion's mane contained a cherry-sized Immemorial Star!

It might look tiny and small. However, the Yin Yang Locket was created with just that amount of Immemorial Star. (The Yin Yang Locket wasn't big after all)

As for the Separation Slayer Sword, it contained only a few fragments of an Immemorial Star. If that cherry-sized Immemorial Star was fully merged into the sword, its quality would certainly improve. Moreover, the sword would become hard enough to the extent of being able to withstand a Void Fragmentation Realm magic technique without a scratch.

Early High Grade Flying Sword - Separation Slayer Sword had a thin body. Refining it might not even need the entire piece of Immemorial Star. Perhaps Ning Fan could build another Immemorial Divine Weapon with the leftovers!

But it was already seriously corrupted by demonic qi.

Ning Fan did not know that it was given to the lion-maned demon by the demon general himself. The general ordered the demon to contaminate it with demonic qi. He had planned to forge an Immemorial Divine Weapon for himself after he completes his Dragon Transformation. Other than fiendgods, the demons who possessed Immemorial Demon Veins were the ones that were able to wield Immemorial Divine Weapons.

It's such a pity for the general that the Immemorial Star had fallen into Ning Fan's hands. If he found out, he would definitely be enraged.

To purify the Immemorial Star that was contaminated with demonic qi, it would need special means that might take a while. For Ning Fan, the earlier he can get his hands on a pure Immemorial Star, the better.

As such, he lacked the motivation to go into battle a month later at the Dragon Vision Pond.

Besides, there were three layers of demon's blood condensing within his body, roiling.

In the previous battle, he had consumed three demon corpses in giant form after killing each of them. It was indeed a gruesome scene to watch. However, consuming blood was one of the ways to strengthen the demon's power within his body, according to the Camelia Scripture from the flower demon.

There were two methods of cultivation for demons.

First, adopting the cultivation method of absorbing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, the essence of the sun and moon and turn them into demon power.

Secondly, consuming blood. The blood of living creatures would increase the demon power.

It was why Ning Fan did not just kill those demons but also ate all three of them when he transformed into a giant.

The blood of the three demons was rotating inside his body, refining into three droplets of blood essence. The light greenish blood belonged to the white snake demon, the light yellowish blood belonged to the yellow marten while the light golden blood belonged to the Mid-Nascent Soul Realm demon with a lion's mane.

The greenish blood and yellowish blood were threadlike in his veins as both of them belonged to demons which had their cultivation realms forcefully raised to Nascent Soul Realm through the use of secret arts. Though it might seem miniscule, a drop of blood was still able to enhance the power of his current demon blood by a hundred times.

For the golden blood, it was ten times of the two types of blood altogether!

Now, the Winged Demon Bloodline in his body was steadily assimilating the power of the three droplets of blood.

His demon power was gradually improving and to his surprise, the quality of the Winged Demon Blood within him was improving too.

It was considered a miracle even for the ancient demons to witness the improvement in quality of a thin demon bloodline!

Actually, the main reason behind it was the Yin Yang Locket.

It enabled Ning Fan to open up Divine Veins, Demon Veins, as well as Devil Veins in his human form while refining the quality of his blood veins. For him, it wasn't too shocking.

The Yin Yang Locket gave its owner the ability to incorporate any power as his own. Therefore, there was absolutely no struggle to power up himself by consuming the blood of other demons.

Ning Fan's demon power was only at Early Harmonious Spirit Realm, excluding the realm of his magic power.

If the three droplets of blood were all assimilated, his demon power would break through to the Late Harmonious Spirit Realm or even achieve the Peak of Harmonious Spirit Realm!

Aside from that piece of Immemorial Star in the storage pouch, there were a several spiritual pills and magical treasures. The magical treasures weren't even worth noticing as they were all seized from other human cultivators. However, the spiritual pills were of high quality. There were some Spirit Refining Grass among them too.

He also found a jade bottle which was deliberately sealed.

A strand of demon power leaked from it. By just smelling it, the demon bloodline in Ning Fan's body began to churn!

Judging from the smell of it, it was quite similar to the three droplets of blood in his body. However, the concentration of the demon power within the bottle was worlds apart from the three droplets of blood!

"Is it possible that it contains a droplet of blood essence of a powerful demon?!"

Ning Fan could tell that if he consumes the droplet of blood in the jade bottle, his demon power would undeniably advance into the Gold Core Realm or even higher!

However, he wouldn't act rashly by just consuming it without thinking twice. Enhancing demon power through consuming the blood of others had a limit. He must never consume the blood of a creature that was way more powerful than himself.

To absorb the power of a Nascent Soul Realm demon's blood essence is already risky, let alone the blood that is sealed within this jade bottle. It may inflict terrible damage on me if I forcefully take it in.

Ning Fan was unable to identify the quality and grade of the blood. As such, he was afraid that he might explode into pieces after consuming it…

"I guess I have no choice but to save it for later…"

After exploring the storage pouch, the thought of not participating in the final battle became even more firm in his mind.

When the shuttle landed within the city, multiple cultivators greeted and welcomed him cordially. In return, Ning Fan nodded his head towards them as a token of respect.

He followed Jie Xiu and Yun Ruowei towards the place to update battle points. An enormous jade tablet stood there. The cultivators that returned from their missions placed their Jade of Achievements on the glossy surface of the tablet and the amount of the battle points would be recorded.

A courteous elderly cultivator was looking after the jade tablet. He was the person who helped the cultivators to convert their battle points into immortal jades, pills, cultivation methods and magical treasures.

Ning Fan did not immediately go towards to the tablet used for recording battle points. A familiar figure who had been waiting for him in the crowd of cultivators caught his sight.

"Zhou Ming!"

"Oh. It's Suqiu! Are you waiting for me?"

"Yes."

The two of them were acting out the role of a couple. Therefore, it didn't matter if the way they addressed each other was a little too intimate.

When Suqiu's gaze shifted from Ning Fan and landed on Yun Ruowei, her heart began to feel nervous. However, she still moved her eyes away from her. As for Yun Ruowei who noticed Yin Suqiu, she could guess that Suqiu was Ning Fan's partner.

This woman has great latent talent. If I wasn't lucky in the past, I might be at the same cultivation realm as her. Besides, she is also a woman of great beauty. It's really difficult to have such a female cultivator with great potential in this cruel cultivation world.

She recognized Jie Xiu and knew Yun Ruowei was a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator from Rain Palace. She said in a polite manner, "My name is Yin Suqiu. Greetings to both seniors…" Yin Suqiu's eyes lingered on Yun Ruowei for a little longer than the other senior. While looking at her, she felt an indescribable nervousness.

"This is?" Yun Ruowei was inwardly amazed by Suqiu. In Ruowei's view, although Yin Suqiu was only a Peak Gold Core Realm cultivator, she had good foundation and great determination in her Heart of Dao.

To be a woman with that attitude is truly hard.

" *Cough* this is Fellow Daoist Zhou's partner. This couple surely has a lot to talk about. I'll excuse myself then…" Jie Xiu introduced Yin Suqiu to Yun Ruowei.

"Oh. She's Fellow Daoist Zhou's wife…" An uneasy feeling surfaced in her heart. She could neither comprehend nor explain that feeling.

Heart's Devil. It must be the Heart's Devil. It's obvious that I don't like him. I would only harbor such feelings because of the existence of the Heart's Devil.

"Since you are Fellow Daoist Zhou's wife, then you don't have to address me as 'senior'. Just call me sister.."

"Then, let me be bold and call you sister."

"Suqiu really has a good foundation for her profound cultivation method…"

"No matter how strong my foundation is, I am still merely a Peak Gold Core Realm cultivator after all. There's no way I can be comparable to you, sister."

Ning Fan's expression turned strange as he stood beside them and listened to their conversation. He did not know why but he felt that they were actually opposed each other. After contemplating for a while, his previous assumption seemed to be inaccurate as Yin Suqiu was not really his wife after all.Furthermore, Yun Ruowei definitely held no good feelings towards him.

During their conversation, the progress of recording the battle points earned was carried out swiftly.

The elder who monitored the process would read the battle points of the cultivator aloud after he or she finished the registration.

"Wang Wei, Late Gold Core Realm, obtained a total of 7152 battle points!"

"Yu Ming, Peak Gold Core Realm, obtained a total of 8503 battle points!"

"Lu Feng, Late Gold Core Realm, obtained a total of 5589 battle points!"

…

"Gu Yan!"

His voice paused on the name Gu Yan with his expression changing while his eyes widened a little. He then let out a dry cough and returned to normal. It was because Gu Yan was the Sixth Commander of Great Jin, a cultivator of Mid Nascent Soul Realm!

"The Sixth Commander, Senior Gu Yan, obtained a total of 96492 battle points!"

Countless cultivators who heard his words breathed heavily.

He indeed is a Mid-Nascent Soul Realm expert. In just a single battle, he was able to obtain a massive amount of battle points! It's nearly a hundred thousand battle points!

Suddenly, a cold sneer broke the uproar in the atmosphere.

"Is that it for a Mid Nascent Soul Realm expert from Great Jin? Is that enough? Please help me to register my battle points!"

"Yes, yes, of course!"

A young man in silver robes had a mocking smile on his face while his eyes emanated ferociousness. Undeniably, it was Yun Kuang! Apparently, the ferociousness that was crushed by Ning Fan earlier had reformed within him after undergoing battles.

After being jeered by Yun Kuang, Gu Yan's face turned gloomy. The cultivators from the Rain Palace's Division were not on friendly terms with the cultivators from Great Jin. It was a known fact to every cultivator present. However, there were only a few worthy enough to be ridiculed by Yun Kuang publicly.

After all, Rain Palace was like a titan compared to Great Jin. And Yun Kuang was not a person that Gu Yan can afford to offend. When Yun Kuang's battle points was announced, Gu Yan's heart thumped irregularly.

The voice of the elderly cultivator was as like a razor-sharp sword piercing through Gu Yan's heart!

"Divine Messenger Yun Kuang from the Rain Palace's Division obtained a total of 235891 battle points! 100000 battle points of it were obtained through cutting down a Nascent Soul Realm demon!"

*Sucking in air deeply*

Silence filled the original lively atmosphere, leaving the sound of breathing echo in the air.

More than two hundred and thirty thousand battle points! I'm afraid it would be impossible to do even for the General Commander! Besides, he killed a Nascent Soul Realm demon to obtain one hundred thousand battle points!

All demons at the Nascent Soul Realm possessed great power. Furthermore, Nascent Souls[1] were formed within their bodies, making it even more difficult to eliminate them thoroughly. Gu Yan himself defeated two Nascent Soul Realm demons in battle but he didn't manage to kill even one of them. Unexpectedly, Yun Kuang managed to pull it off by killing a Nascent Soul Realm demon! Although he lost his Shadow Carrier Sword and could no longer assassinate his enemy using sneak attacks, he is still strong and should not be underestimated!

Among the crowd of cultivators, a tall man with a black face resentfully lowered his head down. He was the General Commander of Great Jin, Luan Zhi! Upon witnessing Gu Yan who was one of his commanders being humiliated in public, he wanted to step forward and teach Yun Kuang a lesson. However, after hearing the amount of battle points Yun Kuang obtained, he stopped. He would only be bringing shame upon himself since his battle points was only around one hundred and ninety thousand, quite lacking compared to Yun Kuang's battle points…

His inaction made other cultivators from Great Jin to sigh faintly. Yun Kuang shot him a glance and became even more proud with himself!

"Hehe, General Commander has nothing to say? It seems that even he doesn't have enough battle points! Hey, the old man who registers battle points! Please just put two hundred and thirty thousand battle points in record! That would be enough for me to secure the top 1!"

He let out a wicked laugh. All of a sudden, his eyes stopped on a person in the crowd.

"Zhou Ming! Are your battle points more than mine?! Otherwise, please get away from Suqiu Xianzi!"

Hundreds of pairs of eyes focused on Ning Fan!

Ning Fan who was helplessly listening to the conversation of the two women wore a serious expression and walked out of the crowd heading towards the tablet.

Everyone thought that there would be a fight between the two of them after Yun Kuang's provocation. But Ning Fan just let out a faint smile and briefly looked at Yun Kuang without a hint of anxiety. He passed his Jade of Achievement which was black in colour to the elderly cultivator.

"Divine Messenger Yun Kuang has too much battle points so he can afford to ignore the small amount of battle points in excess of two hundred and thirty thousand. But I, Zhou Ming, am too poor. Please help me record every single battle point on the jade tablet as each of them represents an immortal jade…"

"Yes, yes!"

Actually, the fear that the elderly cultivator had towards Ning Fan was more than what he felt from Yun Kuang.

When his eyes landed on Ning Fan's Jade of Achievement, his hands began to quiver and the Jade of Achievement slipped through his hand, falling to the ground.

Careless. He was too careless!

"I am so sorry! I should be punished!"

He hastily picked up the Jade of Achievement and apologized to Ning Fan.

Ning Fan just waved his hand gently and said, "Never mind. It's just a small matter. Please proceed."

"Yes, yes! The Seventh Commander of Great Jin, Zhou Ming, obtained a total of 648153 battle points!"

"What?! Six hundred and forty thousand?!"

Many of the cultivators gaped in astonishment.

How is it possible to obtain that tremendous amount of battle points in just a single battle?!

"Three hundred thousand of the total battle points came from killing three Nascent Soul Realm demons…" The elderly cultivator's voice trembled.

"Three… Three Nascent Soul Realm demons?!" Each of the cultivators in the city had their expressions changed!

Nascent Soul Realm demons are too powerful to be easily defeated, let alone killing them. But he eliminated three of them in just a single battle! This… this is…!

The elderly cultivator added on and said, "One of them was a Mid Nascent Soul Realm demon!"

"What?! Mid-Nascent Soul Realm demon?! It means that Old Ancestor Zhou Ming possess the capability of killing cultivators in the same realm as him!"

Eliminating cultivators of the same realm! It was supposed to be beyond the bounds of possibility for the cultivators at the Nascent Soul Realm. One can defeat a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator and destroy his body. However, there's still the Nascent Soul which can still escape at a speed faster than the original body by a small realm… (If a cultivator is at Early Nascent Soul Realm, the speed of his Nascent Soul would be at Mid Nascent Soul Realm) As such, it's completely out of question to eliminate a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator! However, this Zhou Ming was capable of doing it!

After recording his battle points, Ning Fan kept his Jade of Achievement and looked again at Yun Kuang with a smile.

"So are you satisfied with my battle points now?!"

"Are you satisfied?!"

Those words reverberated in the air like a shocking thunderclap blasting in Yun Kuang's heart as Ning Fan secretly used the power of his lightning star.

Yun Kuang's face paled and he retreated a few steps away from him!

The Heart of Dao he cultivated was ferociousness and pride. Previously, his Heart of Dao was shattered by Ning Fan after he lost his sword. He then remolded his Heart of Dao by eliminating a Nascent Soul Realm demon with great effort in the last battle. His action of humiliating Gu Yan was to stabilize his intent of ferociousness. If he was able to win against Ning Fan through the comparison of battle points, he could have erased the taste of defeat from his Heart of Dao!

But it was beyond his imagination that Ning Fan would obtain enormous amount of battle points!

Six hundred forty thousand! It's out of his capabilities!

Besides, he took down three Nascent Soul Realm demons! And one of them was even a Mid Nascent Soul Realm demon which was also one of the twelve companions of the demon general!

No, it's impossible!

His Heart of Dao that had just remolded and his intent of ferociousness which was yet to stabilize shattered once more!

To broadcast his battle points which appeared to be insignificant in front of Ning Fan's was an act of inviting humiliation!

Ning Fan lifted his finger and pointed towards Yun Kuang. It gave him an impression that even if he displayed all his techniques, he could not avoid suffering severe injuries if the finger was pressed against him!

"Are you satisfied?"

Suddenly, words that were like thunder permeated in his body, hurting him from inside. Yun Kuang quickly backed a few for a few steps and stabilized his stance. But a mouthful of blood forced its way out of his mouth.

It was his first time realizing that he must never offend Ning Fan again!

Cannot. Absolutely cannot! This man possesses the strength to kill a Mid Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. That finger of his is more than enough to finish me off!

"I apologize for my discourtesy. I'll excuse myself!"

Without hesitating any further, he teleported away. In his haste, he even forgot to retrieve his Jade of Achievement which was still in the elderly cultivator's hands. Seemingly, he had lost his calm.

It was his second time escaping from Ning Fan. Perhaps he would no longer have the audacity to trouble Ning Fan again in his entire life.

"He runs fast…"

The slight smile did not fade from Ning Fan's face. He put down his finger without giving Yun Kuang a second look.

His Heart of Dao is destroyed. He can break through to the Late Nascent Soul Realm as well as Peak Nascent Soul Realm but it would be impossible for him to achieve the Divine Transformation Realm in his whole life.

It was because Ning Fan would surely become his Heart's Devil, bothering him while trying to break through to the Divine Transformation Realm. And that Heart's Devil will haunt him for the rest of his life.

That scene of Yun Kuang running away in fear left the cultivators in the city petrified.

Old Ancestor Zhou Ming could not only kill a Mid Nascent Soul Realm cultivator but also scare a Mid Nascent Soul Realm cultivator off with just a few words. This man's potential is unfathomable!

…

"Fellow Daoist Zhou really didn't plan on participating in the final battle of Dragon Vision Pond?" Jie Xiu sighed disappointedly. Ning Fan had already mentioned about it to him on their way back to the city earlier.

"Hai… I've suffered some injuries in the previous battle. Even though I want to help, I'm unable to do as I wish."

"If that's the case… It's such a pity that you can't join us…"

Jie Xiu sighed continuously.

Ning Fan's strength was even stronger than the General Commander of Great Jin. If he could join the final battle, Great Jin would have a higher chance of gaining victory in the battle.

It's such a pity that he can't join.

<strong>Note:</strong>

1. Just a clarification for Nascent Soul. According to https://immortalmountain.wordpress.com/, Nascent Soul resembles an infant or a miniature version of the person and resides in the Dantian, typically sitting in a lotus. (Lotus position in Buddhism is similar to the position of meditation). It can go outside the cultivator's body and is considered to be their second life- that is, if their main body dies, their consciousness can continue to exist in the Nascent Soul. Click here for picture.

<strong>Translator Team:</strong>

G-Team [Tommy (TL), Roel (Editor)]